Retirement 2021
52 million Americans are age 65 or older. Hitting 65 means you have gotten to the point that retirement planning isn’t just about setting money aside and hoping for the best down the line. You have to have the certainty that you are going to be able to live out the rest of your years in comfort rather than worry. Stressing out about the future isn’t going to solve any problems. You have to have a solution for the fact that you won’t be earning money from your work if you retire completely. Most importantly there will still be expenses and outgoing cash flow.
While many retirees in Florida and California play golf every day in the sunshine, for most of America's retirees that isn’t the case at all. For most folks who retire, their lives are spent living within their means and enjoying the simple pleasures life has to offer. Exorbitant and frivolous expenses are shelved and a more sensible approach to life is adopted.
The future is not certain. Worrying about the future or possible emergencies isn’t a healthy thing to do. However, a study by EBRI found that almost half of American employees are concerned about their financial wellbeing. Having savings in case of an emergency as well as retirement is a major cause of stress. Planning for retirement means assessing your financial situation. It also means you have to confront the fact that you will have to navigate the rest of your life with what you have.
Unfortunately, Coronavirus has disrupted so many plans and lives. American families' savings have been hit hard over the past two years. Before the pandemic tore across the world, 50 percent of households were in danger of not being able to keep up their current lifestyle and expenses if they were to stop working. Covid raised that percentage another 5 points to 55 percent. Economic misery is a terrible hardship. More and more folks have been accessing Social Security to help them get by.
The Social Security Administration said that in June 2020, half of all retirees who are married rely on Social Security checks for half of their income. 70 percent of unmarried folks rely on the SSA for their monthly check to get by.
There are many things you can do to try and make sure you are entering retirement armed with a plan. If you are already at full retirement age in a world ravaged by a pandemic hopefully you have all your ducks in a row and are ready to enjoy some quiet time away from all the madness.
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